 | Jennifer Wright is president of the historic Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, which celebrated its 90th Anniversary in 2012. Wright began as a volunteer and was quickly hired as the marketing director until she was named President in 2011. Wright is responsible for the overall operations of the theatre, including the theatre's restoration efforts, capital campaign and future plans of organizational growth and enhanced programming. She can be reached at 316-263-0884 or via email at jennifer@wichitaorpheum.com |
Entertainment
2013-03-01 11:08:26
The Orpheum's for everyone!
Q-What’s going on at the Orpheum Theatre this month?
A-There are 6 exciting events scheduled for this month that are sure to please every member of your family regardless of your interest and age.
38th Annual Amira Dance Production Dance Magic 2013: is colorful, unique and fun entertainment for the whole family.
Tracy Morgan; Excuse My French: As a stand-up comic best known for his work on NBC’s 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, Tracy Morgan was first introduced to television audiences in his role as “Hustleman” on the hit comedy series Martin. He went on to join SNL in 1996 where he appeared for seven seasons and created such memorable characters as “Astronaut Jones” and “Brian Fellows.” After leaving SNL, Morgan went on to star in his own comedy series The Tracy Morgan Show and voiced “Spoonie Luv” on Comedy Central’sCrank Yankers.
Currently starring in NBC’s Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning 30 Rock, Morgan appears opposite Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin as “Tracy Jordan,” the unpredictable star of Lemon’s (Fey) hit variety show, “TGS with Tracy Jordan.” In 2009 Morgan received his first Emmy nomination for this role in the Supporting Actor category; in the past five years he has also been nominated for the Supporting Actor NAACP Image Award.
From Here to Eternity: the 60th Anniversary Screening. It’s 1941. Robert E. Lee Prewitt has requested Army transfer and has ended up at Schofield in Hawaii. His new captain, Dana Holmes, has heard of his boxing prowess and is keen to get him to represent the company. However, ‘Prew’ is adamant that he doesn’t box anymore, so Captain Holmes gets his subordinates to make his life a living hell. Meanwhile Sergeant Warden starts seeing the captain’s wife, who has a history of seeking external relief from a troubled marriage. Prew’s friend Maggio has a few altercations with the sadistic stockade Sergeant ‘Fatso’ Judson, and Prew begins falling in love with social club employee Lorene. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor looms in the distance.
West of Memphis: is an examination of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers’ unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.
Come see this powerful film shown on 35mm through our 1942 Carbon Arc projectors.
Trey McIntyre Project: one of the hottest dance companies in the nation is a Boise-based nonprofit arts organization founded to nurture, support and produce the artistic vision of native-Wichitan, Trey McIntyre.
Spyro Gyra: Sponsored by Scholfield Honda, As Spyro Gyra contemplates upcoming milestones to its storied career, it’s tempting to fall back on the Grateful Dead lyric, “What a long strange trip it’s been” to describe it. During that time, they have performed over five thousand shows, released 29 albums (not counting “Best Of…” compilations) selling over 10 million albums while also achieving one platinum and two gold albums. Just next year, 2014, Spyro Gyra will celebrate 40 years as a band and they show little sign of wanting to slow down.
In their earliest days, Spyro Gyra took their cues from Weather Report and Return to Forever – bands whose creative flights were fueled by a willingness to do things that had never been done before. “I believed that we were springing from what Weather Report did,” says Jay Beckenstein. “I never thought in commercial terms. I just thought they were the next step in the evolution of jazz, and that we would be part of it.”
The first few years saw the group’s identity split into a dynamic live act and a producer centric recording process, born out of the rotating cast of characters in the jazz jam beginnings. These albums were the product of the band and a great number of the top session players in New York. In 1983, Beckenstein made the decision to make the albums the work of the band members he shared the stage with night after night, only supplementing with occasional guests.
“When we first started,” Beckenstein recalls, “a lot of the jazz purists got on our case about calling what we did jazz and now it’s funny to hear us getting respect from the same people. Like, wow, what you guys did was so much more intriguing than some of the stuff they hear today… Art manifests itself in a multitude of styles and contexts. Isn’t that why we started to play in the first place?”
Spyro Gyra was picked up by Amherst Records, a local label who then made a deal for subsequent albums to go to Infinity Records, a label owned by MCA Records. After gaining Infinity its only gold (soon to be platinum) record with Morning Dance, Infinity folded and the group was picked up by MCA Records. There they stayed until MCA acquired noted contemporary jazz label GRP Records. Spyro Gyra moved to GRP in 1990 and put out all but one of their 1990’s output on that label. In 1999, they released a single album, Got The Magic on Windham Hill Jazz. The “aughts” had them returning to an indie mode, licensing their albums to Heads Up International. Most of those Heads Up albums have since returned to the band as self-released independent releases. They returned to Amherst Records in Buffalo for their most recent studio album, A Foreign Affair.
